and other news from Today in Palestine:
Land, property, resources theft & destruction / Ethnic cleansing / Apartheid
For Netanyahu, saving Israel’s deserts is all about settlements / Zafrir Rinat
Haaretz 5 July — Netanyahu insists on seeing nature and landscape as no more than an obstacle to the realization of his settlement vision — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last week cleared his calendar, crowded with security-related and political crises, and devoted almost an entire day to the Dead Sea. He toured the area and discussed issues pertaining to conservation of the Dead Sea and tourist development at its southern end … Netanyahu briefly shared his doctrine, explaining that undeveloped land was dead land, calling on the theories of Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto, who, Netanyahu said, understood what settling the land was all about. In the Dead Sea region, the premier plans to revive the land by building new cities in the Arava … What land exactly in the Dead Sea region is dead? The nature reserves, some of the most beautiful in Israel, or the entire area around the lake, which Netanyahu himself sees as one of the seven wonders of the world? Or perhaps he means all areas in Israel where nature has been preserved, to his regret, leaving him looking at a map covered with patches of land dying from so much flora, fauna and unspoiled landscapes instead of sketches full of the vitality of tarred roads, shopping centers and new communities.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/for-netanyahu-saving-israel-s-deserts-is-all-about-settlements-1.371518
JVS rejects Israel’s plan to double the settlement area in the Jordan Valley
5 July — We, the Jordan Valley Solidarity Campaign, reject the Occupation Authority’s decision to double the size of the agricultural colonies in the Jordan Valley. This expansion means the colonies will consume more water, which is already scarce and entirely absent in some Palestinian communities in the Jordan Valley. The expansion will mean more suffering for the Palestinian people and more limitations on access to their land. These new developments come while the Palestinians of the Jordan Valley are facing the ongoing aggression of the Israeli occupation, whose main aim is to expel them from their land.
http://www.jordanvalleysolidarity.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=303
City council ‘fast tracks’ Jerusalem settler homes
JERUSALEM (AFP) 5 July — Plans to build around 900 new homes in Gilo, a settlement neighborhood of annexed east Jerusalem are being fast tracked by the city council, settler watchdog Peace Now charged Tuesday. Plans to build the homes in Gilo in the southern sector of east Jerusalem were first announced in April but on Monday passed another stage in the bureaucratic process before becoming a reality, a city councillor from the right-wing Likud party said Tuesday … “The biggest significance is the political message it sends — that Israel is putting all its efforts into building east Jerusalem and not into west Jerusalem to spite the world and the Palestinians.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402728
Abu Teir: I will return to Jerusalem in spite of Israel
RAMALLAH (PIC) 5 July — Banished Palestinian legislator Mohammed Abu Teir said he is fully confident that he will return to his native city of Jerusalem in spite of Israel’s arrogance. Abu Teir, who represents Jerusalem on the Palestinian Legislative Council, told the Palestinian Information Center that Israel’s orders to banish Jerusalem’s Palestinian officials were based on a political decision and that the Israeli courts have no independent decision in the matter, which is actually run by Israeli intelligence. After the MP was exiled to Ramallah, he says he has not belonged to any specific country and has refused to apply for Palestinian citizenship as it would mean relinquishing his right of residence in Jerusalem.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd87
Restriction of movement
OPT: Born at a checkpoint
LONDON, 5 July 2011 (IRIN) – For three years now a UK medical journal, the Lancet, has been working with Palestinian health professionals and researchers to document the effects of stressful living – coping with economic difficulties and shortages, restrictions on movement, political tensions and fear of outside attack – and has just published its latest findings … Last year the Lancet’s collaborators described vividly the terror of women waiting to give birth during Israeli bombing raids on Gaza in early 2009: They knew they might need urgent medical care at a time when they were trapped in their homes during the attacks. This year another of their researchers has looked at what happens to women already in labour who are caught at oPt checkpoints. Halla Shoaibi of Ann Arbor University in the USA estimates that in the period she studied (2000-2007) 10 percent of pregnant Palestinian women were delayed at checkpoints while travelling to hospital to give birth. One result has been a dramatic increase in the number of home births, with women preferring to avoid road trips while in labour for fear of not being able to reach the hospital in time. Their fears are well founded. Ms Shoaibi says 69 babies were born at checkpoints during those seven years. Thirty five babies and five of the mothers died, an outcome which she considers to amount to a crime against humanity.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.aspx?reportid=93145
IOA blocks travel of two MPs heading to attend conference in Malaysia
RAMALLAH (PIC) 5 July — The Israeli occupation authority blocked the travel of two Palestinian lawmakers who were planning to attend an international parliamentary conference in Malaysia. MPs Abdul Jabbar Fuqaha and Mohammed Abu Juhaisha were not allowed to cross the Allenby bridge from the occupied West Bank to Jordan en route to Kuala Lumpur. They said that the Israeli intelligence held their passports for a few hours then told them that they were banned from travel
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcO
I’ve the right of traveling
contributed by Shadi Fadda — This is the official Facebook page for a campaign of my right to travel. It is managed by a group of Palestinian youth whom forbidden and deprived to travel by Israeli occupation which lead to the loss of many opportunities in employment, education and medical treatment. This page is dedicated to deliver their voices to the free world, to lift the injustice and allowing them to travel freely. [Example: Israel intelligence prevented Palestinian child 8 years old from the travel to Jordan (PIC Arabic version). Those who don’t read Arabic can usually get the gist of an article by using Google Translate – the Chrome browser will translate pages automatically if you set it that way.]
http://www.facebook.com/pages/%D9%85%D9%86-%D8%AD%D9%82%D9%8A-%D8%A3%D9%86-%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%A7%D9%81%D8%B1-Ive-The-Right-of-Traveling/176423885754466?sk=wall
Israeli troops invade West Bank communities, demolish a house and arrest civilians
Bethlehem (PNN) 5 July — During pre-dawn invasions targeting a number of West Bank communities Israeli troops arrested 6 men after searching homes, Palestinian sources reported on Tuesday.
Elsewhere Israeli troops and an army bulldozer stone [stormed?] the village of Beit Iskaria near Bethlehem, in Southern West Bank, and demolished one home there. The house belongs to Mohammed Sa’d and is the home of 10 people, Sa’d was fighting an army demolishing order in court he explained that the court did not rule against the house yet and the army action violates the court order of leaving the status quo. Beit Iskaria Village lies on the middle of Israeli settlement compound [Kfar Etzion] all the village homes are slated for demolishing by the military which claims that the villagers are building houses without permissions.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10391&Itemid=64
Settlers
Jewish settlers set Palestinian farmland on fire
NABLUS (PIC) 5 July — Jewish settlers on Tuesday set Palestinian farmland on fire in the village of Madma to the south of Nablus, local sources reported. They said that settlers of the Yitshar settlement established on part of the Madma village land torched fields to the southwest of the village near to the bypass road inhabited by those settlers.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bcOd
IDF commander in West Bank says he is unfazed by settlers’ intimidation
Haaretz 5 July — Brigadier-General Nitzan Alon, who has come under heavy criticism from right-wing and settler activists, said recently that he is not intimidated by the personal attacks leveled against him after several far-rightists attempted to accost him near his home. Alon, who is in charge of IDF forces in the West Bank, has been accused by settlers of having a “leftist” world view. He has also come under fire for withholding information surrounding outpost evacuations from soldiers who publicly oppose such actions
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/idf-commander-in-west-bank-says-he-is-unfazed-by-settlers-intimidation-1.371615
Violence
Medics: Airstrike kills 2 in central Gaza
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 July — Two Palestinians were killed and a third was injured Tuesday as Israeli warplanes fired a missile at the central Gaza Strip, Palestinian medical officials said. Two bodies and an injured man were evacuated from the village of Al-Musaddar in central Gaza to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital. Medics identified the victims as Muhammad Said Abu Jazar and Kamal Abu Muammar and said the injured man was in serious condition. He was not identified. Israel’s military said the strike targeted a group of Palestinians preparing to launch rockets: “An air force aircraft thwarted the attempt by firing at them. A hit was confirmed.” No Palestinian faction has claimed responsibility for any attempt to launch projectiles … Three rockets fired from Gaza hit Israeli territory this week, the army said calling it evidence that Hamas “is not enforcing a policy of restraint over the terrorist organizations operating in the Gaza Strip.”
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402637
IAF strikes Gaza tunnel
Ynet 6 July 00:26 – IAF aircraft targeted a smuggling tunnel in northern Gaza Strip late Tuesday night. No injuries were reported. Palestinian sources reported seeing multiple Israeli aircraft fly over the location of the blast just before midnight. One source said two missiles were fired at an unknown target.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091587,00.html
Court finds border guard guilty of abuse
Ynet 5 July — Border Guard Officer Shani Sivilya who was charged with abusing a 17 year old Palestinian detainee, aiming a gun to his head and pulling the trigger while saying “death to Arabs” and “Arabs are whores” was convicted Tuesday at the Jerusalem District Court. Sivilya admitted that she her actions were racially motivated … In the revised indictment sheet Sivilya admits to forcefully hitting the minor with her fists, while slapping his head and shoulders. The sides have not reached an agreement over the sentence and the Police Internal Affairs Bureau has made it clear that it will demand a prison sentence. In response, Sivilya’s attorney Refael Farig said: “I believe that the person convicted in this case was not just Shani Sivilya but all those who enlist 18-year old teens to serve in the Border Guard and put them at the center of the Israeli-Arab conflict…”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091458,00.html
Driver injured by gunfire from Gaza
Ynet 5 July – The driver of a civilian vehicle in the service of the IDF was injured by gunfire from Gaza while on the scene of engineering work being done on the border fence. He was lightly injured and treated at the scene. The incident happened immediately after the IDF bombed a terror cell in Gaza, killing two. [End]
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091453,00.html
Detention
Army: Six Palestinians detained overnight
JENIN (Ma‘an) — Israeli forces detained six Palestinians overnight in the West Bank, an army spokeswoman said. Palestinian security sources said soldiers detained three Hamas affiliates in Jaba‘ south of Jenin in the northern West Bank. Security officials told Ma‘an that soldiers detained Nazih Abu Aun, 50, Anas Khaliliyeh, 29, and Ahmad Nimer Malaysheh, 37, after breaking into their homes during a raid on the village. An Israeli military spokeswoman said two Palestinians were detained from Jaba‘ overnight, and four others were detained across the West Bank.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402433
IOA renews administrative detention of MP, sentences activists to similar custody
AL-KHALIL (PIC) 5 July — The Israeli occupation authority (IOA) renewed the administrative detention, without charge, of Hamas MP Khalil Al-Rubaee for the second consecutive time. The lawmaker’s wife said she got a telephone call from Rubaee’s lawyer saying that the Israeli Ofer court extended the detention of her husband for six more months. She said that her husband is held in Negev jail where other Palestinian MPs were held since their abduction anew in 2010.
Meanwhile, the same Ofer court on Tuesday sentenced a journalist and two human rights activists to administrative detention. Ahmed Al-Beitawi, a researcher with the international Tadamun foundation for human rights, said that the court sentenced Quds TV journalist Nawaf Al-Amer, director of Ahrar center for prisoners and human rights Fuad Al-Khuffash, and human rights activist Firas Jarar to five months in administrative custody. They were all detained on 28/6/2011 after IOF soldiers stormed their homes in Nablus. Beitawi pointed out that all three were concerned with prisoners’ affairs, charging the IOA with targeting all media outlets and figures defending prisoners and shedding light on their ordeals.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2b
‘Prisoners want popular uprising’
BETHLEHEM (Ma‘an) 5 July– Prisoners in Israeli jails are calling for a popular uprising in solidarity with them, saying their situation was becoming unbearable and required practical action other than speeches and slogans. Atiyya Al-Basyouni, a Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine leader and the head of a prisoners group in Gaza, said Sunday that the Palestinian leadership must give the cause serious attention and follow-up.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402262
Repatriation of bodies
National security adviser: Israeli cabinet never approved list of Palestinian bodies for transfer
Haaretz 5 July — PM Netanyahu authorized the transfer, Defense Minister Barak canceled it; in the meantime security services coordinated the list with the Palestinians — The Israeli government’s blunder over the transfer of Palestinian bodies led the prime minister’s office on Tuesday to send its national security adviser, Major General (res.) Yaakov Amidror for a round of radio interviews, where he denied that Hamas member bodies are among the list … “The decision was made in principle without including names,” Amidror repeated. “The Palestinians publicized the names. That is what they would like to have, not what we have agreed to give. No names or numbers came up. At no point was a transfer list approved.” … Earlier Tuesday, senior ministers and members of the cabinet complained they were not updated on the government’s decision to transfer the bodies.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/national-security-adviser-israeli-cabinet-never-approved-list-of-palestinian-bodies-for-transfer-1.371574
Fly-in / Flightilla
Aharonovitch: Fly-in ‘hooligans’ will be deported
Ynet 5 July — While the Gaza-bound flotilla has suffered some setbacks, Israeli security officials are still gearing up Tuesday for the expected pro-Palestinian fly-in. Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch addressed the issue Tuesday, saying: “Any hooligans who might try to break the law – will not be permitted to enter Israel and will be sent back to their countries of origin.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091351,00.html
Press release – Welcome to Palestine – Mission
Here is the press release after the press conference that was held this Tuesday [8 March] in the Paris Senate: Nearly 600 women, men and children, among whom more than 350 French citizens, will fly to the West Bank next Friday 8 July, in answer to the call from 15 West Bank Palestinian civil society organizations. The aim is to show that, if our governments do not seem to be interested in the fate of these people who have been under occupation for far too long, there are men and women from all countries, who are ready to bring them moral support, using a week of their holidays to go and meet them. In order to go to Bethlehem, we have no other choice than first landing at Tel Aviv airport, since the only Palestinian airport was destroyed by Israel in the early 2000’s. We know that the internationals who go to Palestine are very often subjected to arbitrary, indeed criminal practices, when they are not turned back, which often leads them to lie on the reasons of their journey. However, all the French, Belgian, British, German, Italian and American participants decided of one accord that, having nothing to hide, and coming with totally peaceful intentions, they would inform the Israeli authorities of our wish to go to the West Bank immediately after our arrival at Tel Aviv airport.
http://bienvenuepalestine.com/?page_id=232
Gaza
Gisha: Gazans need exports, not aid
Tel Aviv (PNN) 5 July — As the Freedom Flotilla II approaches, Israeli not-for-profit organization Gisha warns that activists’ focus on humanitarian aid is not the root source of Gaza’s problems. It is economic stagnation rather than lack of food that is causing the residents misery. Israel’s continued ban on exports, construction materials, and travel between Gaza and the West Bank contradicts the 2010 Israeli government decision to facilitate economic recovery in Gaza. Gisha cites data from the Palestinian Federation of Industries at least 83% of Gaza’s factories are either closed or working at a capacity of 50% or less. The Israeli ban on export cripples the manufacturing sector; not a single truck has been allowed to leave Gaza since May 12. The extent to which Israel seeks a full restriction on Gaza is evidenced by the complete ban on goods destined for Israel and the West Bank; Gisha notes that prior to 2007, 85% of the goods leaving Gaza were sold to Israel and the West Bank.
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10393&Itemid=61
OFID donates $2 million for job creation in Gaza
AMMAN, Jordan (Ma‘an) 5 July — The OPEC Fund for International Development has donated $2 million to UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said Monday. The contribution will assist the agency’s job creation program for refugees in the Gaza Strip, UNRWA said in a statement. UNRWA said the funds would help to mitigate poverty in Gaza while reducing refugees’ dependence on emergency assistance. The UN agency says unemployment stands at around 45 percent in the coastal enclave, one of the highest rates in the world.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402475
Activists enter Israeli buffer zone north of Gaza
GAZA (PIC) 5 July – Dozens of Palestinians and foreign supporters rallied Tuesday to protest the security buffer zone Israel has enforced north of the Gaza Strip. Marchers, organized by a local resistance initiative, were joined by foreign members of the International Solidarity Movement as they set out from northern Beit Hanoun and headed for the Erez border crossing in northern Gaza Strip. They raised Palestinian flags and chanted as they managed to step foot on farmlands the access to which has been prohibited to Palestinians by the Israeli occupation.
http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/En/default.aspx?xyz=U6Qq7k%2bc
Gaza’s no-go zone, three years on / Kharda Hamdan
GAZA CITY (Ma‘an) 5 July – Hundreds of hectares stretched along Israel’s barrier with the Gaza Strip are deserted because of a no-go zone, what solidarity activists call the “buffer zone”. Only a small number of locals and internationals dare to tread simply because at any moment an Israeli patrol could show and open fire, seemingly depending on the soldiers’ mood. Many people have been killed since Israel announced this no-go zone three years ago. Some of the victims were children whose only crime was to attempt to taste the season’s first lemons or oranges … an Israeli rule … basically says nobody is authorized to overstep a 300-meter distance from the fence. In fact, everybody seen within that range will be shot at. To be more precise, the no-go zone started with 300 meters, but very swiftly, the range extended to 800 meters, and in some cases people were shot dead while they were a kilometer away.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402663
Flotilla
Greece stops another flotilla ship from sailing to Gaza
Ynet 5 July — Greek port authorities stopped the Swedish vessel “Juliano” from leaving the Port of Athens and setting sail to Gaza Tuesday evening … Israeli expat Dror Feiler told Ynet that the ship “was cleared to set sail this afternoon, but shortly afterwards the Greeks changed their mind. We tried sailing anyway, but there are navy ships waiting for us and a ship with media representatives covering the story. I guess who ever is in charge was given orders from high up. We’re waiting to see what happens next,” he said.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091576,00.html
Gaza flotilla activists occupy Spanish embassy in Greece
dpa/AP 5 July — Activists demand flotilla be allowed to leave for Gaza; American captain of Gaza flotilla ship released after Saturday arrest … The 21 Spanish activists intend on sailing on the Spanish boat Guernica, which has been docked on the southern Greek island of Crete for the past few weeks, awaiting an opportunity to sail as part of a flotilla that aims to challenge the Israeli blockade of Gaza. The activists insist that they will continue to occupy the premises of the embassy until the Spanish government asks Greek authorities to allow them to sail to Gaza…
On early Tuesday morning, a French yacht participating in the flotilla left a port near Athens, but turned back after several hours, Israel Radio reported. The report stated that flotilla activists aboard the Dignité-Al Karama did not want to be the only ones sailing to the Strip, after the other boats were prevented from doing so by the Greek coast guard. The announcement contradicted an earlier message [09:50] posted by the organizers on the A French Boat for Gaza campaign’s website, which stated that “late in the night, the French boat reached international waters. It is heading now towards Gaza.” [to make things more confusing, there are two French boats — the other one, the Louise Michel, has not been able to leave Greece.]
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/gaza-flotilla-activists-occupy-spanish-embassy-in-greece-1.371603
European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza confirms that the French ship ‘Dignity’ has set sail
Brussells (PNN) 5 July — The European Campaign to End the Siege on Gaza (ECESG) confirmed on Tuesday that the French ship ‘Dignity’, which is part of Freedom Flotilla II, has in fact set sail to the besieged Gaza Strip while the rest of the flotilla ships remain trapped in Athens, banned from sailing. In a press release issued today, Rami Abdo, spokesman for ECESG, said that the French ship ‘Dignity’, or ‘Karama’ in Arabic, has left the French port of Corsica and is now in international waters sailing to the Gaza Strip. ‘Dignity’ has six crew members and is carrying aid supplies to Gaza. The ship was forbidden from leaving in the past few weeks after a campaign by pro-Israeli groups in France was launched against it. ECESG considers the launch of the ship to be a victory over the pro-Israeli campaign. The vessel’s passengers include Olivier Besancenot, head of the New Left Party in France, French politician and member of the European Parliament Nicole Kiil-Nilsen, and other well-known French personalities. [See website for more information on the ECESG: http://www.savegaza.eu/eng/ ]
http://english.pnn.ps/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=10397&Itemid=56
French flotilla boat sets sail for Gaza
AJE 5 July — The Dignite al Karama, which left the western Mediterranean island overnight is, thus far, the only boat in a flotilla organised by pro-Palestinian activists to successfully sail for Gaza, with most confined to ports in Greece … “We are about 20 minutes from international waters, and when we arrive there, the organisers on the boat will decide what their next move is,” Quentin Girard, a journalist with the French newspaper Liberation, told Al Jazeera from aboard the boat. Girard said that the activists on the boat want to go to Gaza, but are waiting to decide if they will go once the boat arrives in international waters. “I think they will go if the international committee for the flotilla encourages them to go,” Girard said.
Meanwhile, the captain of a US ship who was arrested by Greek authorities was released on Tuesday and all charges against him dropped, Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal reported from Athens. “He has not been fined for anything, and he is a free man. This after Greek authorities arrested him or detained him late on Friday as he tried to bring his ship out and take the passengers to Gaza,” Elshayyal said.
Alejandro Fierro, an activist aboard a Spanish boat, Guernica, that is currently in port in Crete, told Al Jazeera that activists from his boat remained fully committed to going to Gaza … “We will wait no matter how long it takes. We’ve learned patience from the Palestinian people who have been resisting Israeli occupation for 60 years, so we can wait. We are not going to move until our government makes some solution for the Greek government to let us sail away,” Fierro said. “Activists aren’t taking this lying down,” Al Jazeera’s Elshayyal reported. “The Spanish contingent of the flotilla has occupied the Spanish embassy here in Athens and has been almost taking it hostage since about 12pm local time… So there is still very much a standoff from which no one seems to be willing to back down.”
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/europe/2011/07/201175114643849116.html
A pipeline of injustice: Greek consular official admits that natural gas pipeline drives Greek complicity in Gaza siege / Charlotte Kates
Mondoweiss 5 July — It has been widely reported and speculated that the reason for Greece’s participation in the suppression of Freedom Flotilla Two may be found in its own economic situation – that the government of Prime Minister George Papandreou, pushing a devastating IMF/EU austerity plan on the Greek people against their will, is so desperate for international financial and economic support that it is willing to serve as the enforcement arm for Israel’s illegal siege on Gaza. Yesterday, in Vancouver, Canada, a Greek consular official, Georgios Ayfantis, confirmed that this is indeed the case. In a conversation with a delegation of activists supporting the Tahrir, the Canadian Boat to Gaza, who entered the consulate demanding a meeting about the Freedom Flotilla, Ayfantis asserted that Greece’s economic interests were at stake in stopping the Flotilla, saying that an undersea natural gas pipeline and a natural gas liquidizing plant in Crete were at stake.
https://mondoweiss.net/2011/07/a-pipeline-of-injustice-greek-consular-official-admits-that-natural-gas-pipeline-drives-greek-complicity-in-gaza-siege.html
Activism / Solidarity
Welcome to Palestine — if you can get in / Sam Bahour
Guardian 5 July — Israel’s threat to deny visitors entry to Palestine is as disturbing as it is shocking. Our protest will be a civil society tsunami … Israel is threatening to refuse to allow Palestinians living in the occupied Palestinian territory to receive visitors from abroad. … Remember, there is no other way to get to the Palestinian territory of the West Bank and East Jerusalem, which is under military occupation by Israel, except by passing through Israeli-controlled points of entry such as Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv or one of Israel’s sea ports or land crossings. The entry point to the Gaza Strip from the West Bank requires passage through Israel as well [as does entry to the West Bank over the Allenby Bridge from Jordan]
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/jul/05/welcome-to-palestine-israel
Racism / Discrimination / Incitement
‘King’s Torah’ writer has no regrets
Ynet 5 July — Rabbi Yitzhak Shapira explains that ‘killing of enemy’s children is permissible in order to defeat an evil king or tyrant’, but says changes may be made in new edition of controversial book – …The rabbi addressed the killing of children, which was one of the reasons he was suspected of incitement, as were Rabbis Dov Lior and Yaakov Yosef who endorsed the book. According to the book, “Hurting small children makes sense if it’s clear that they’ll grow up to harm us, and in such a situation — the injury will be directed at them of all people.”
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4090992,00.html
Far right to join forces with haredim?
Ynet 5 July — Extreme right-wing activists are trying to enlist the help of the Eda Haredit for a joint battle against Israel’s legal system and are planning a mass protest outside the Supreme Court.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091377,00.html
UN committee: Israel must allow civil marriage
Haaretz 5 July — There is no meaningful equality in Israel between men and women when it comes to matters relating to marriage and family relationships, according to a new UN report. The report was compiled by a panel of experts overseeing implementation of the 1979 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women … Halperin-Kadari added that this was the first time that a UN committee had so clearly stated that Israel must allow civil marriage and do all it can to end the discrimination against women in family law.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/un-committee-israel-must-allow-civil-marriage-1.371483
Political / Diplomatic / International news
Outgoing US ambassador: Obama planning to visit Israel
Haaretz 5 July — James Cunningham, the outgoing U.S. ambassador to Israel, said Tuesday that U.S. President Barack Obama intends on visiting Israel. Cunningham mentioned that Israel is on Obama’s agenda during a farewell meeting with Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, who thanked Cunningham for his service as the two discussed the current state of U.S.-Israel relations.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/outgoing-u-s-ambassador-obama-planning-to-visit-israel-1.371602
Gallup poll: US Jewish support for Obama on the decline
Haaretz 5 July — American Jews gave U.S. President Barack Obama an approval rating of 60% in June, a slight drop from 64% in April and 68% in May, according to a Gallup poll released on Tuesday … The 60% rating is the lowest one since Obama took office, and pales in comparison to his support among Jews in 2009, which stood at 83%.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/gallup-poll-u-s-jewish-support-for-obama-on-the-decline-1.371617
Other news
IDF officers to hide their identity / Yossi Gurvitz
972mag 5 July — The IDF is increasingly worried about the possibility of being prosecuted abroad for war crimes: Maariv published an article this morning (Hebrew), saying senior officers will have their identities hidden, noting specifically this was not due to ‘field security’ reasons, i.e., fear that the officers will become targets for assassination, but rather for legal reasons. A senior officer told Maariv this is done in order to “protect the officers from the legal point of view.” Borrowing a longstanding Air Force tradition, soon Israeli media will be barred from naming all officers from the rank of Sgan Aluf (Lt. Col) and upwards, and will have to make do with an initial. The officers’ faces will, as is customary in the Air Force,be blurred or pixilated, to prevent their identification.
http://972mag.com/idf-officers-to-hide-their-identity/
Report: Barak wants to exclude certain bodies from deal with PA
TEL AVIV, Israel (Ma‘an) 5 July — Israeli Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Tuesday ordered the cancellation of the planned transfer of several Hamas members’ remains to the Palestinian Authority, Israeli media reported. The decision stemmed from the possibility that the remains in question would be compiled as part of the efforts to negotiate a prisoner swap with Hamas, the Ynet news site reported. Barak also ordered that the remains of 10 Palestinians who used to reside in Gaza be excluded from any future lists, according to the report. It was not clear why they were excluded. The Palestinian Authority’s minister of civil affairs, meanwhile, said that until news of the handover was revealed Monday, the issue of whether or not bodies belonged to Hamas had not been discussed.
http://www.maannews.net/eng/ViewDetails.aspx?ID=402694
Joining the world? Gov’t to consider adding Sunday as day of rest
Ynet 5 July — PM appoints head of National Economic Council as chairman of committee to look into making Sunday day of rest, Friday half-day … The proposal was drawn up by Minister for Regional Development Silvan Shalom several months ago. Shalom believes Israel’s economy would benefit from a shift to long weekends, as is customary in the rest of the western world … Meanwhile, Shas Chairman and Interior Minister Eli Yishai said Sunday that his party was against the move, by orders of its spiritual leader, Rabbi Ovadia Yosef.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4091159,00.html
Analysis / Opinion
Siege of Gaza has become a moral blockade of Israel / Yitzhak Laor
Haaretz 5 July — Israel is indeed connected to the centers of power in the world. The predictions of a tsunami at present seem to be exaggerated, but nevertheless, before the victory ball, it is worth remembering – the Israeli occupation is the longest military occupation of modern times. The subjects of the occupation in its two forms – the West Bank and the Gaza Strip – live under a brutal regime that few other occupations allowed themselves, without any law – the blockade and the morbidity rate among children, the roadblocks and the arbitrariness of the soldiers, breaking in to people’s homes (imagine your children being awakened at night by the shouting of armed men, breaking down doors and blinding them with flashlights; imagine living without any protection ), the prolonged occupation, a disaster for us and for the Palestinians – because Israel enjoys the support of the West … The fact that the Gaza Strip has become an international symbol of cruelty is yet further proof of the stupidity of our leaders. Operation Cast Lead and the blockade of Gaza – both of them with broad national consensus – have turned Gaza into a symbol that no longer needs coordination on the part of the Palestinians. Israeli democracy appears as it actually is: In the name of the majority (six million Jews ) it is permitted to do to the minority (five million, in Israel and the territories ) almost anything.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/siege-of-gaza-has-become-a-moral-blockade-of-israel-1.371516
The Oslo Accords are all but dead / Akiva Eldar
Haaretz 4 July — Settlement expansion persists as Israel’s right-wing government continues to ignore the terms agreed to in the accords close to two decades ago — …Ross is trying to peddle the illusion that the most right-wing government Israel has ever seen will abandon the strategy of eradicating the Oslo approach in favor of fulfilling the hated agreement. In an effort to save his latest boss from choosing between recognizing a Palestinian state at the risk of clashing with the Jewish community and voting against recognition at the risk of damaging U.S. standing in the Arab world, Ross is trying to drag the Palestinians back into the “peace process” trap.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/opinion/the-oslo-accords-are-all-but-dead-1.371234
Double standards over Salah’s arrest – letters from Noam Chomsky and Ghada Karmi
Guardian 4 July — …How interesting that the same Mike Freer MP who demanded the banning of Sheikh Raed Salah from Britain should also have, in effect, supported the entry of suspected Israeli war criminals into this country. As my constituency MP, he brusquely rejected my appeal in November 2010 to vote against the government’s proposed change to the law of universal jurisdiction, which would make it easier for visiting Israelis accused of alleged war crimes to evade arrest here. By contrast, Sheikh Raed has committed no crime in Britain or elsewhere. But perhaps his criticism of Israel’s policies against his fellow Palestinians is the real crime for Freer and other supporters of Israel. – Ghada Karmi, London
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jul/04/double-standards-over-salah-arrest
Israel arrests raise specter of rabbis vs state / Marius Schattner
JERUSALEM (AFP) 5 July — Challenges to Israel’s justice system by a small group of ultra-nationalist rabbis have raised the specter of theocracy in Israel, where religion is deeply intertwined with affairs of state. Over the past week, police have detained, questioned and released two very influential rabbis as part of an ongoing investigation into a banned book called “The King’s Torah,” which justifies killing non-Jews under certain circumstances … And on Monday, around 2,000 people massed outside the Supreme Court — the symbol of secular law — to protest the arrests. “I have come here to bring the message that the laws of the Torah are above the laws” of the state, said Shmuel Eliyahu, a rabbi from the hilltop town of Safed in Galilee, which is an important center of Jewish mysticism.
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